


I don't know what you did to me

by iranoutofstars



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Cute, F/F, First Meetings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 06:47:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17075396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iranoutofstars/pseuds/iranoutofstars
Summary: An idea on how Penelope and Josie could have met.





	1. First meetings...

Penelope Park wasn't your usual teenager. Not in the slightest. She wasn't the clichèd "she was beautiful, but she didn't know it." No, no. She was beautiful and she was well-aware. She knew exactly the effect she had on people, she knew perfectly well what she wanted and how to get it. She was calculating. A mastermind, really. If you asked her, anyway.

That was until she met Josie Saltzman: a young, beautiful witch who stole her breath away, and possibly her heart too (though she would never admit it), the very first time she saw her.

And maybe, just maybe, when her eyes landed on the brunette she was speechless and she forgot her usual cool and collected self, though it was only for a second, mind you.

Being the new girl in a school like the one she was at, sucked. Everybody knew everyone else's business and she loved her privacy. She soon found out the source of all the gossip and information, the day after her arrival, when a short blonde sat beside her at lunch and just a few seconds after she introduced herself she started asking an overwhelming amount of questions. If she hadn't known any better, Penelope would have thought the chick was trying to write a book about her.  
She managed to deflect most of the questions and on those occasions were the girl was relentless about getting her answers, she gave her snarky remarks and clever one-liners. By the time the bell rang, Penelope could tell that the girl was pretty disappointed by the lack of new information she received. Or maybe she was more disappointed she couldn't blab about the new girl during the long lessons to come; Penelope, on her front, was really proud that she managed to maintain her private business... Well, private.

Soon after that, she realized that not answering the blonde's questions only dragged more attention on herself. She quickly became the talk on everybody's lips: the mysterious, allusive new girl who was hiding God knows what big secret.

Penelope didn't mind the attention. She didn't mind the intrigued eyes following her around the school, nor she minded the talks whispered in ears every time she walked in a room. She paid no attention to it. As long as nobody was bothering her personally, she was fine with being the talk of the week, knowing that sooner or later people would just grow tired of speculating and they would just move on to another topic. For the time being she just had to find a place far enough from the school to have some peace and quiet. That school was sure noisy. Good thing she liked to walk.

On the fourth day at the Salvatore school, Penelope found a nice clearing in the woods, not far from a little cemetery, real creepy, no doubt, but still breathtaking.  
She was heading that way that Saturday, her mind wandering yet again to one particular brunette that she still hadn't been able to shake from her head. They hadn't had a real conversation, other than that first introduction when Mr Saltzman welcomed her to the school and introduced her to his daughters. In the six days spent at the school, Penelope still found Josie to be the most interesting part of it all.

She came close to walk over to the brunette and say 'hi' a couple of times, just to turn on her heels and go straight back where she came from, when she was standing just a couple of feet apart.

Penelope was still trying to analyze why that girl had such an effect on her. It's not like that was the first crush she ever had. Not by any means. But there was something about that face, something about the aura she emitted that had the power to render her speechless and turn her mouth dry every single time. She was always so smooth and collected without even meaning to be, but that one time she needed her overflowing confidence, that's when it failed her? That wasn't very cooperative of her. Not in the slightest.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't notice that her usual spot in the clearing was already taken and she almost stumbled upon the young girl sat cross-legged on the grass.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," said the girl looking up.

"No, I'm..." Trailed off Penelope, before she could see who it was and of course it was her. Of all the people and all the places. Of course Josie Saltzman was sitting in the only solitary place she could find.

"I didn't realize anyone knew this place," the raven-haired mumbled, as if that was an explanation for why she almost stomp all over  the witch, but the brunette simply smiled, she smiled one of those breathtakingly kind smiles that Penelope had only ever seen on her face.

"Not many people like the hike." She replied softly and Penelope had the feeling the other girl understood everything she wanted to say, but she didn't. "I hope you don't mind sharing," Josie added, sitting back down as she was before being interrupted. "If it's necessary I'm even willing to do one of those joined custody thing. You get it three days a week and I get the other four?" She asked teasingly, before the raven-haired could even answered the first thing.

"As long as we split the weekend equally!" She replied matching the teasing tone and sitting down by her side. And maybe she silently congratulated with herself for not loosing her usual attitude.

The girl laughed sincerely, the noise echoed in Penelope's head long after it was finished as if she was trying to commit it to her memory for future use.

After that the two girls fell in a quiet silence, that was only slightly awkward, but not really for some reason.  
"So," said Josie after a long moment, raising her eyes to focus on the girl next to her. "How was your first week?" She asked and Penelope thought she looked genuinely interested, it didn't sound like she was just trying to fill the silence, or to spread rumours or report to her father, so the girl shrugged, trying to find something to say that was little deeper than "it was ok", but she couldn't come up with much, so she said just that.

"It was ok," and Josie raised one single eyebrow at her, intrigued and amused. "I mean, not that I expected a talking hat or anything, but I'm sure a moving staircase wouldn't be so hard to achieve." She added making the brunette at her side laugh again and she quickly recognized that she loved hearing that, she loved seeing that face lit up by genuine laughter, but more than anything she loved being the cause of it.

"You'll have to put it down in the suggestion box, I'm sure my dad will find it to be top priority." She countered when her laugh turned into a soft giggle, which, if possible, was even cuter.

"I might just do that." She replied trying to maintain her façade instead of turning into a staring creep.

"Other than your failed expectations?" Josie asked after another moment and now she was prying.

Penelope noticed and she regarded her for a long moment, trying to understand why.

Josie was looking at her with a soft smile on her lips, but her eyes were serious, it was as if she was telling her that she was well-aware of the fact that she was hiding behind jokes and a tough attitude, but she knew there was more to it. Or maybe Penelope was just reading way too much in that single look.

"Accademically it looks great," she said simply and it was true and not only because it was the only school of its kind that she knew of.

"And non-academically?" Josie prompted.

"People seem..." She paused trying to find the right adjective. "Really interested." She finished. And Josie raised another eyebrow.

"Interested, not interesting?" She asked in clarification.  
"Well, a few people seem interesting," Penelope said looking directly into her eyes. "But mostly interested."

"I take it you met Millie." She said with a knowing smile.

"Is that her name?" The girl asked. "Yay tall, lots of questions?"

"Sounds about right." Josie said with another grin. "I feel like I should apologize for her, I'm sorry." She added. "We are a small community, people here see newbies as the main entertainment, you are like the new shiny toy." She explained.

"I figured as much."

"But I have to say that your reluctancy to give her details might just have prolonged your new interest status." She admitted.

"Oh, so you listen to rumours too?" The raven-haired asked interested and the way Josie scrunched up her nose was just the cutest thing Penelope has ever seen.

"Well, I mean..." She stuttered. "I don't... necessarily go look for them, but..." She tried. "I mean... It was hard to avoid this time." She managed to say at last.

"I'll offer you a deal then," Penelope said, not sure where the sudden surge of confidence came from.

"You can ask me anything and I'll answer as honestly and completely as possible." She said.

"And what do you want in return?" She asked candidly, not scared or suspicion about having to do something in return, but intrigued.

"You show me to the best movie and dinner in town." She replied, a serious look on her face, even if she was almost dying inside, by how nervous she was. "My treat," she added.

For the third time that afternoon, Josie raised an eyebrow with a smile on her face and the raven-haired had to admit, she looked really good with that expression on her face, not that she wasn't beautiful with every expression, but there was just something about that look that was almost challenging and just so alluring.

"So, I'm getting a free dinner a movie and an honest answer?" She asked almost confused.

"Honestly, I don't know why you are still thinking about it. It's such a good deal for you."

"Deal." Josie said immediately, stretching out her hand  for Penelope to shake, which she did. The smile on the girl's face was almost blinding.

"So..." The twin started to think about her question.


	2. The talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope and Josie talk in the clearing

"Well, now I have too many questions!" She said covering her face with her hands embarrassed.

Penelope laughed endeared.

"Ok, ok, I got one." She said. "What was your first impression of me?" She asked.

Oh shit.

Out of all the questions.

Why did she have to pick that one? How could she answer that?

She promised she would answer honestly and she couldn't do that without revealing how much of a soft spot she had for the brunette.

"What?" She asked expressing all of her surprise, trying to buy herself some time or maybe back out of the deal. She was expecting something like "how did you got to the school" or "where are you from" or even "what's your favorite color", surely not something like that.

"What was your first impression of me." The girl repeated calmly.

"I... That..." Penelope tried to say.

"Oh, c'mon," she said. "I think I just accepted to go on a date with you, the least you could do is tell me what you thought of me that first day." She pleaded.

"Ok," she said swallowing hard, trying hard to swallow her pride with that. It was way too early to tell her what she really thought, she knew as much, but a deal was a deal and she couldn't back out.

"I thought you were beautiful." She said simply and honestly. "Like the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." She added, by then she couldn't held her gaze anymore, not confident enough in her presence to look at the other girl while being more honest than she has ever been before.

"You are honestly the only person who was able to render me speechless with just one look," she said keeping her eyes focused on her fidgety hands, which was so uncharacteristic of her that she almost didn't recognize herself.

If only she had raised her gaze she would have seen that Josie was looking at her like she was the single most interesting thing in the world.

Josie wasn't used to people telling her that kind of stuff, everybody was usually too busy drooling after her sister to pay any kind of attention to her.

"And you still are the only person that can make me blush and feel all flustered. Just being around you makes me feel self-conscious, which is something I'm not used to be." She said with a slight smirk. "It's like you make me want to be the best version of myself," she concluded. She knew she could have answered the question honestly with the first five words, or at least she knew in that moment, once she was finished talking, when she was finally able to think and breathe properly again.

"Wow," said Josie under her breath. "We only met a week ago," she said, mostly confused. Not understanding how she could have such an effect on someone. That wasn't her style, she was the one who people went to to ask help with their homework, she wasn't the one who would make people fall at her feet with just one glance. She was the kind one, not the hot one.

"I know," said Penelope with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of her neck. Sheepish? Since when was she sheepish? "And I have no idea how you've done it, because honestly I've never felt this... This insecure. Or like any of this before." Said Penelope honestly.

"Well, now I really can't wait for that date!" Josie countered smiling at her kindly.

After that, the conversation was flowing more easily.

As if by addressing that topic, the girls were able to move on from the embarrassment of a newborn conversation. They spent hours talking in the small clearing. Their books and phones completely forgotten on the grass beside them, as if they only needed each other's presence.

They were so engrossed in their conversation, or better in each other, that they didn't realize how much time had passed, until they noticed it was getting colder and it was already very dark around them.

"What time is it?" Asked Josie looking around confused, it honestly felt like only a few minutes had passed.  
"21:30" Penelope read from her phone and the other girl jumped up, suddenly very preoccupied.

"Shit," she said, trying to gather her things as fast and efficiently as she could. "I totally forgot I had dinner plans with my sister and my dad." She added.

"Oh, well, let me go back with you." The raven-haired said collecting her own things.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they organized a search party already." Josie joked, though it was a plausible scenario: her father was capable of worrying that much and her sister... well, she was just that dramatic.

The two girls pretty much ran all the way back, Penelope slowing down to be at the side of the shorter girl, taking her hand to drag her through the woods, laughing and sprinting and breathing heavily as if they had no care in the world.

They finally reached the gates of the school and by the commotion that was going around in the garden it looked like her dad was actually organizing a search party.

He was talking to some people near the entrance when Josie walked up to him, still gripping Penelope's hands. Maybe she forgot she was holding it, maybe she needed the comfort to face her father or maybe she just liked how it felt. Even if both their hands were sticky with sweat due to their run.

Josie had never been in trouble with her father before. She always did what she was told, she always did her homework in time, never got a bad mark, never talked back to anyone and definitely never been late for a family dinner.

"Jos," he said hugging her. "Oh, thank God you are ok. Where were you? I was so worried. We were all so worried." He said taking her head in between his hands as if he wanted to inspect her, to see if there was any evident damage.

"I'm sorry, daddy," she said apologetic. "I was out with Penelope and we just lost track of time." She explained.

Alaric threw a quick glance behind her shoulder, only then he noticed the raven-haired who was still patiently standing there, holding Josie's hand.

"Oh," he said surprised. "Ok," he added, not sure what to make out of his daughter's statement. "Well, next time just text, ok?" He said letting her go. He nodded towards Penelope, not sure what to say to her. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go call your mother and tell her that you are ok."

"And you should also call off this search party." Josie reminded him with an amused smile on her face.

"I might or might not have told a few people to get ready in case you hadn't answered before ten p.m." he said retreating into the house, shooting a smile at his daughter.

"That wasn't so bad..." Said Penelope tugging at Josie's arm playfully.

"Yeah, I thought it would have been worse." She admitted. "But there's still..."

"Josette Saltzman!" A booming voice said behind her.

"My sister." Josie finished the sentence in a whisper. "Brave yourself, this might get ugly." She whispered at Penelope. And Penelope laughed, because surely she was joking... Right?

"Where the hell have you been?" She asked - no, scratch that, she demanded. And Penelope raised both eyebrows, shocked by the force and the tone of the question, as if Josie had just committed a terrible crime or she just insulted her in the worst possible way.

Josie didn't even flinch, she was used to the overdramatics of her sister. Nothing new there.

"I know, I'm sorry Lizzie." She started to say.

"You are sorry?! I had a maj scoop and you weren't even around."

Now Penelope was simply lost. She wasn't even going to bother to ask if she was ok?

And Josie just sighed because, again, really nothing new.

"I'm sorry, I was out, but you can tell me the scoop now." She offered.

"Forget the scoop, it's old news now!" She said waving her hand. "Who's this?" She asked titling her chin towards Penelope, who was still holding Josie's hand.

"This is Penelope, you know, new student. We welcomed her last week..." The brunette said to jog her memory.

"Oh yeah, the talk of the last few days." She said looking at her as if she was inspecting an object, as if to see what the big deal was. "Well, try not to steal my sister again." She said after a long moment, finally addressing Penelope herself.

"Excuse me?!" The raven-haired asked with a bit of an attitude, she might have had a problem regarding her usual confidence and laid-back personality when it came to Josie, but Lizzie didn't effect her at all.

"You heard me." Lizzie shot back.

"Last time I checked Josie could decide who to spend her time with." Penelope responded taking a step forward to stare the blonde in the eyes, to show her that she wasn't afraid of her.

Josie tugged at Penelope's hand slightly, trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible, she really didn't want to be the cause of a scene, but she was getting the idea that her new friend was just as stubborn and quick-tempered as her sister, if not more.

"Josie, time to go." Said Lizzie after an intense staring contest with the new girl.

"You go, I'll be there in a second," the brunette said posing herself between the two girls. The blonde looked at her in disbelief, then she just scoffed, turn on her heels and stomped towards the dorms.

"So that's Lizzie Saltzman," Penelope muttered, whilst watching the girl leave.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." Josie apologized. "Let me give you my number, so that we can make arrangements for that date?" She asked, quickly changing the subject. The raven-haired immediately lit up and offered her phone. "After all a deal is a deal." Said Josie giving back her phone.

Then she quickly kissed the other girl on the cheek.  
"Goodnight," she turned around and walked away with a giggle.

Leaving a surprise Penelope behind, barely able to  raise her hand to bid her Goodnight.


	3. The date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Penelope and Josie go on their first date...

Since that Saturday evening, when Josie put her number in Penelope's phone, they had been texting non-stop. Like literally. Penelope found herself to be incapable of not responding, actually she felt herself waiting anxiously for the next text or the next funny picture.

With every new piece of information she found out about the brunette, she liked her more. It was reaching levels she had never knew before and it was honestly scaring her, but she wanted things to go right too badly to even try and close herself off.

So, the next Saturday, she knocked at the twins' door eagerly and nervously. Her palms sweaty. To her dismay, it was Lizzie who opened the door, and even if she grew to dislike the girl pretty quickly, not even the blonde could make her big smile falter.

"Evening," she said.

"What is it? The nineteenth century?" She replied unimpressed. "Josie, the girl is here." She shouted then, leaving the door open and laying back on her bed.

Penelope stepped inside and closed the door behind her, hoping Josie was almost ready so that she didn't have to endure much more of the blonde's company.  
  
"So, where are you going to bring my sister this time?" Lizzie asked. "I hope you didn't plan to take her to the woods again, so creepy." She said with a grimace on her face.

"No, actually I'm taking her to a cave. Thought I would switch it up a bit." The raven-haired said, her face incredibly serious. Lizzie regarded her for a long moment, questioning if she it actually the truth, but before she could say anything, Josie stepped out of the bathroom and no matter how cliché it sounded: Penelope's breath got stuck at the back of her throat.

She wasn't incredibly dressed up, it looked much like the same type of clothes she would wear at school. Short skirt, a white shirt and a blouse, after all Penelope did tell her to dress comfortably. Maybe it was the fact that the raven-haired found her stunning in everything she wore or maybe it was the knee-high boots she was wearing, but she couldn't muster a word, for what felt like an eternity.

"You look gorgeous." She said when she finally found a way to make her brain work again.

"So do you," she replied with the same expression on her face.

Lizzie rolled her eyes, though nobody noticed because the two girls were too busy looking at each other.  
"Are you ready to go?" Penelope asked swallowing, trying to rehydrate her throat, which suddenly felt like the Sahara desert.

"Yeah," Josie nodded. "Just one quick thing." She said stopping her. "Earrings or no earrings?" She asked showing her date the choice she picked out.

"Oh those look great on you, yeah!" Penelope said approvingly.

Lizzie faked a gag, but again, nobody noticed.

"Ok, Liz, don't wait up." Josie said grabbing her bag and following the raven-haired out of the room. "Love you," she shouted when she was already in the hallway, not waiting for her answer.

"I know part of the deal was to go to the movies," Penelope started to say as they were exiting the school. "But I thought that part was a bit lame for our first date." She admitted.

"I love movies." Countered Josie pouting.

"I love them too, but I don't want to spend two hours silently watching a screen. I want to talk to you." She replied grabbing her hand, stressing the last word of the sentence. Josie's heart swelled up in her chest hearing those words, because that's was one of the sweetest thing she has ever heard.

\--*--

The date wasn't anything fancy, it wasn't an occasion to splurge money or try to win the girl's heart by doing crazy activities, it wasn't Penelope's style. She wanted one night of uninterrupted time with the shorter girl.

She wanted to hear all the stories she had to say and listen to her talk about the last book she had read and go on and on about what kind of modifications their school should be making regarding what spells they were teaching. Penelope loved every second of the night and Josie did too.

Josie had never been on a date with someone who made her feel so important. The other girl listened to everything she had to say as if every word was fascinating, it made her feel truly heard, to a level she had never experienced before.

Josie was usually the one who did the listening, nobody had ever taken the time to sit down and truly ask her what she was thinking and up until then, she had no idea how much she needed that.

"I'm sorry." Josie said as they were walking.

It was a lovely night and they decided to walk back to the school with ice cream in their hands.

"What are you sorry for?" Penelope asked confused.

"I feel like I've been talking non-stop through the whole night." She replied suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"That's nonsense, I talked plenty," the girl replied reassuring her. "Plus I like hearing your voice." She added and that was admittedly too cheesy for Penelope, she wanted to cringe to her own words, even if they were absolutely true, but Josie laughed shyly, covering her face with her hand to try and hide her blush.

Penelope put herself in front of the other girl, she took a hold of her hand and moved it away from her face.  
They stopped just at the side of the road a tall lamppost was illuminating them from above.

Penelope thought that the lighting didn't make Josie justice looking deeply into her eyes.

"I really do wanna hear all that you have to say," she confessed softly. "I love how your mind works," she added honestly, because she had a feeling the other girl didn't hear that enough and she thought she deserved to know. "I love how you express yourself, so eloquently and with a rich vocabulary at the same time. Hearing you talk it's honestly the best way to spend my time." She finished and Josie was looking at her in awe.

"So I'm beautiful and smart, that's what you are saying?" She asked, faking a confidence she didn't know she had and Penelope laughed, wholeheartedly.

"Yes," she nodded. "And funny, obviously."

"Basically perfect." Josie kept the joke going, but she wasn't smiling anymore, she was too busy looking at those beautiful eyes and too anxious to finally taste those alluring lips.

"Undoubtedly perfect." Penelope replied, matching her expression and then there was nothing more to say, because they both knew that there wasn't space for words in that moment, except for two:

"Kiss me." Josie said taking a step closer and Penelope complied. She really didn't need to be asked twice.

She brought one hand up to the side of the brunette's face, cupping her cheek as if to hold her in place and then she leaned in, closing the few centimeters that divided them.

And so they kissed under a lamppost on the side of the road.

Josie could have sworn she felt herself falling with just that one kiss or maybe she had been falling for a while and only then she noticed, but in that moment, in Penelope's arms it didn't really matter, because the other girl was holding her.

Penelope didn't know how much she needed to meet the other girl until she did and she didn't know how much she craved kissing her until she did, it was like being able to breathe after being too long after water and breathe she did.

Until a car horned and stopped next to them, forcing the two girls to separate and look at the intruder, Penelope was ready to incenerate whoever it was. Seriously.

"Hey girls, can I give you a lift?" The man asked.  
Josie leaned her forehead against the raven-haired's with a goofy smile on her face.

"No thanks we are going to walk back." She said.

"Doesn't look like you are walking much." He said again and both girls understand that it wasn't a suggestion. Penelope let out a short laugh.

"Of course, Dr Saltzman, thank you." She said putting some space between her and Josie and taking her hand to get in the car.

"So, you had a good evening?" He asked after a minute or two.

"Dad..." Josie said with a warning tone.

"What? I'm just asking." He replied innocently. Penelope simply sat in her seat, amused and too happy about the events of that night to care about the teasing. "So, how was your night?" He asked again.

"Perfect." Josie replied in a soft voice leaning her head against Penelope's shoulder.

"Oh, what you did you do?" He prodded.

"Ok, really. No more questions!" The brunette ordered closing her eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought :)  
> Hope you liked :)


End file.
